N. Howard Thorp
(1881-1949) and her daughter. Courtesy Bar-D Ranch.]] Nathan Howard '"'Jack"' Thorp' (June 10, 1867 - June 4, 1940) was an American cowboy poet and songwriter, and a collector of cowboy songs. Thorp is credited with being the earliest person to take a serious interest in collecting and preserving the homespun ballads of the American west. Life Youth Thorp was the youngest of 3 sons of a New York City lawyer and real estate investor. As a child he summered at his brother's ranch in Nebraska, and at 19 he moved there. Career Thorp later he moved to to New Mexico, where he worked as a cowboy and a civil engineer, operated cattle and sheep ranches, and served as New Mexico's state cattle inspector. He married in 1903, living in Palma (100 miles east of Albuquerque) and Santa Fe before moving closer to Albuquerque in 1935. Starting in 1889, Thorpe collected cowboy material while living in New Mexico. His small book Songs of the Cowboys was published in Estancia, New Mexico in 1908. It was the earliest such book ever published, containing the words to only 23 songs, including the now-classic "The Streets of Laredo" and "Little Joe the Wrangler". A greatly expanded version was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1921. His later publications included Tales of the Chuck Wagon (1926) and Pardner of the Wind: Story of the Southwestern Cowboy (published posthumously in 1941 with Neil M. Clark). His fiction and poetry also appeared in New Mexico Magazine, The Cattleman, The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, and The Literary Digest. Cowland, a book-length story targeted towards a younger audience, remains unpublished. From 1936-1939 Thorp worked for the Works Progress Administration’s New Mexico Federal Writers’ Project. Thorp died at his home in Alameda, New Mexico, on June 4, 1940. Recognition A new edition of Songs of the Cowboys, including biographical material and a CD with many of its songs played on historical instruments, was published in 2005 by the University of New Mexico Press. Publications Poetry and songs *''Songs of the Cowboys''. Estancia, NM: News Print Shop, 1908; **revised & expanded edition (with introduction by Alice Corbin Henderson), Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1921; New York: C.N. Potter, 1966; Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1984; **Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys'' (book & CD). Santa Fe, NM: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2005. Short fiction *''Tales of the Chuck Wagon''. Santa Fe, NM: privately published, 1926. Non-fiction *''Pardner of the Wind: The story of the south-western cowboy''. Caldwell, ID: Caxton, 1945. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:N. Howard Thorp, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 8, 2015. See also *Cowboy poets *List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Poems *Thorp in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "Sky-high," "Old Hank," "The Little Cow-girl," "Pecos Tom," "'Light, Stranger, 'Light," "Women Outlaws," "Old Paint," "What's Become of the Punchers" *Selected Songs and poems from 'Songs of the Cowboys' (7 by Thorp, and more) ;Books * [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t9183t533;view=1up;seq=147 Full text version of Songs of the Cowboys 1921 edition] *N. Howard Thorp at Amazon.com Category:American collectors Category:1867 births Category:1940 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:American poets Category:Cowboy poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets